Mary Hester

Cambridge-Dr. Mary T. (Connolly) Hester, 102, passed peacefully at home on Monday, July 28, 2025. She is pre-deceased by her beloved husband, Dr. James W. Hester. She survived by her sister, Sister Ann Connolly; generations of nieces, nephews, extended family and many dear friends. She is pre-deceased by her siblings, Madeline O’Donnell, Sister Teresa Connolly, James, Martin, and Daniel, Connolly, all of Ireland.

The second eldest of seven children, Mary was the daughter of Daniel and Agnes Connolly, and was born and raised in the family home, “Tycooley House” a fourth-generation cattle and sheep farm located in Caltra, County Galway, Ireland. Following schooling at the Ursuline Convent in Sligo, Mary became one of the first women to study Medicine at the University of Galway. After qualifying, she began her professional career as an Anesthesiologist at Chester Hospital in England before being recruited to join Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she would later meet and marry her adoring husband of 25 years, Dr. James Hester. The consummate hostess, Mary, alongside her husband Jim, were together renowned for welcoming and hosting family, friends, and neighbors for dinner and cocktail parties in their Cambridge home. A remarkable woman, Mary was blessed with a natural sense of fun and cherished many simple pleasures, conversation with friends, fine food and drink, music, painting, gardening, and her leisurely walks along the River Charles with her French poodles by her side. Mary was dearly loved and will be very fondly remembered. Mary’s family and friends wish to thank the staff at Professional Nursing Association of Hopkinton that tended to her for many years with care, comfort, and support.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11AM on Thursday, August 7, 2025 at St. Peter Church, 100 Concord Ave., Cambridge, with burial to follow in St. John’s Cemetery, Lancaster. Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Philbin-Comeau Funeral Home, 176 Water St., Clinton. Online condolences may be placed at www.philbincomeaufh.com